Bridge piece



A ril 21, 1925. ,535,o43

S. SCANLON ERIDGE PIECE Filed May 6. 1924 WWWWWW W/ 4 4 k\ z h' 3 6 a;

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;aii %fyti fi zen (252 0 21 A TTORVE S Patented Apr. 21, 1925.

PATENT OFFICE.

STEPHEN 'SCANLON, OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

BRIDGE PIECE.

Application filed May 6,

TO ellada-om it may concern:

Be it known that I, S'rnrnnN SCANLON, a citizen of the United States,and a resident of the city of New York (borough of the Bronx), in theeounty of Bronx and. State of i ew York, have invented new and improvedBridge Pieces, ot which the following is a full, clear, and exactdescription.

This invention relates to bridge pieces, and more particularly toimproved means for bridging the floor joists, studding and otherbuilding structures to take the place of the ordinary wooden bridgingheretofore in use.

A further object is to provide a bridge piece which can be manutacturedand sold at an extremely low price, which can be quickly placed inposition, and which will securely hold the joists or studding in properarallel relationship.

lVith these and other objeets in view, the invention consists in certainnovel features of Construction and combinations and arrangements ofparts which will be more fully hereinafter described and pointed out inthe claims.

I In the accompanying drawings- Figure l is a View in vertical sectionillustrating my improved bridge pieces in operative position on the'floor joists Figure 2 is a 'View in section on the line 9-2 ot l `igure1; g

Figure 3 is a 1 erspecti \'e view oi one oi 'the bridge pieces.

YVhile l illustrate in the drawigs my iniproved bridge pieces l locatedat the lower edges oi the joists 2 it is obvious that they may belocated at the upper cdges of the joists and also that these bridgepieces are adapted for use with equal acility for vertical studding orother spaced timbers in any building structure where it is desired toequally space such joists, studs or timbers, and I have illustrated andwill describe the sane in connection with fioor joists merely to showone use of my iniproved bridge pieces.

In constructing my improved bridge piece I employ a strip of metal ofsuitable gauge, and then the ends of the strip are bent at right angles:torming tongues 3 with the extremities of said tongues bent inwardlyand at acute angles forming gripping jaws i,

1924. Serial No. 711,'391.

the latter being serrated at their extremities :forming a plurality ofbiting teeth 5 which are adapted to bite into the material of thejoists, stuclding or timbers and securely hold the same.

In use it is simply necessary to locate the bridge piece over a pair ofjoists or studding and then force the same inwardly so that the teeth 5will bite into the material of thejoists or studding and will securelyhold.

By arranging the bridge pieces as indicated, that is, in a generalstaggered relat-ion, one bridge piece engaging a pair of joists, and thenext bridge piece engaging one of said pair of joists and the next joistand so on throughout the structure. By reason of this arrangement thejoists are held against novement and are maintained parallel.Furthermore, this operation can be quickly done and absolute uniformityhad, leaving nothing to guesswork or ,to imperfection in workmanship. p

By reason of this Construction of bridge piece any tendency of thejoists to spread only serves to cause the toothed jaws to bite more rmlyinto the joists and prevent such movement.

While I shall hereinafter refer in the claims to the parts to which thebridge pieces are secured as joists I would have itjunde'- stood that Ienploy this term in its broadest possible sense to include anyari-angement oi? parallel studs, timbe's and the like with which my im'1)roved devices are adapted 'for use. g v

Various slight changes and alterations might be made in the general formot' the parts described without departing from my invention, and, hence,I do not limit myself to the precise details set toi-th but considermyself at liberty to make' such slight changes and alterations as fairlyfall within the spirit and scope of the appended claims.

I claim:

l. A bridge piece of the character described, comprising a strip ofmetal, tongues projected at right angles to the ends of said strip,inwardly projected jaws at the ends of the tongues, said jaws located atan acute angle relative to the tongues, and teeth at the extremities ofsaid jaws.

2. In combination with a series of joists,

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bridge peces composed of st'ips of metal, tongues at right angles to theends of said strips, toothed jaws :xt the extrenties of saidhongusprojected ai; ana-cutewangleito the t0ngues,- each --st1'iplocated agzint *the odges of {L respective pair of josts -Wththe juwsengagng the faces ofcsaid josts, :and

other bridge pieces engagng one `of the, pairs of joists and the nextjoist in like mimne', and said bridge pieces having stagge'ed atangement andlyng flatagzinsts the` edges o'fthe jstsnand at a *rightzingle therel'o.

` STEPHEN SCANLON.

